Faces and Places

Highlighting those people, places and things that make All Children's Hospital special.

All Children's Homecoming Dance Has All the Right Moves For Kids, Families and Friends

On
a crowded dance floor, pulsing with thumping beats and lively moves, the moment
unfolded in a scene of unscripted fun and spontaneous unity. A handful of young
boys wearing hipster shades began an impromptu conga line and, in a matter of
seconds, dozens of other kids joined the locomotive formation, weaving around
the room to the blaring tune Come On Ride the Train.

In
that magical instant of the first All Children’s Homecoming dance last Saturday
night, patients shared much more than the personal battles they have fought so
bravely.

They
shared a sudden rush of independence from the serious, in some cases life-threatening,
conditions that changed their worlds – all while linked hands-to-shoulders with
other kids like themselves, gleefully cutting loose on a night that a welcome feeling
of normalcy filled the air.

Many
were riding a collective train to an exciting, new destination: a homecoming
gala, and one that pulled out all the stops along the way.

For
patients who missed the chance to attend their own school fall or spring bashes
– or who simply felt too nervous or uncomfortable to go – this dance literally came
to them, melting away inhibitions and obstacles.

Children
who

didn’t know one another were pulled to the dance floor to become part of a
jumping, gyrating, mass of energy, punctuated at times by the hilarious sight
of a young boy showing off his moves with his head covered by a rubber monkey
mask.

The
festivities transpired in the ECC conference room, completely transformed into
a stunning ballroom light in warm shades of blue and purple. Dubbed “An Evening
Under the Stars,” the theme was underscored with cardboard stars dangling
overhead in honor of the real stars of the show: the kids.

No
detail was spared to make it a night extra special. There was the white,
storybook carriage and black stretch limo that greeted children and their
families as they arrived for the 7-10 p.m. event, providing perfect settings
for prom-like photos. And there was the V.I.P. red “carpet” made of colored paper
that led the crowd beneath a glittering archway as cameras snapped shots of the
scene and video cameras rolled.

“It’s
like we have our own paparazzi out there,” exclaimed Tony Colton, a Sarasota
15-year-old who had his final chemotherapy treatment for clear cell sarcoma in
his kidneys days earlier, and is now cancer free.

He
arrived with Pinellas Park 15-year-old Amber Mohn, who underwent treatment at
All Children’s with Tony the past two years. “I went to my homecoming last year
and this looks a lot better,” she said, smiling as she gazed at the glitzy
sight around her.

“This
is just so cool – I’m so glad I came,” added heart transplant patient Shavon
Greene, a 19-year-old from St.
Petersburg whose life was saved at All Children’s. “I wasn’t sure what to
expect. But a carriage and a limo? That took me totally by surprise. And with
all those people taking pictures at the red carpet, it feels like Hollywood. It’s
amazing.”

More
than six months of hospital-wide planning supervised by the Child Life department
went into making the evening a reality. The effort was driven by a small army
of staffers and a volunteer force of some 100 coordinated by Brittany Nelms.
Donors from throughout the Tampa Bay area gladly got into the act, providing
formal dance outfits, party food, desserts, makeup and hair styling services, formal
portrait shots and a fun photo booth, the lively tunes of D.J. Fresh (well
known for spinning hits at Tropicana Field during Rays games), and much more.

As
they walked the red carpet, the children turned to the left and into a
wonderland of entertainment that far exceeded anything they’d imagined, and the
parents turned to the right and into a lounge that allowed them to visit, enjoy
their own spread of food and beverages – and watch their children on a big
screen having a much-needed blast via a live feed from next door.

It
all began as a simple idea that everyone fell in love without hesitation.

“Some
of the Child Life staff were sitting at lunch and just brain-storming different
ideas of things we could do this year for the patients and families,” said
Child Life director Kristin Maier. “They came in my office and said, ‘We have
an idea – you’re going think we’re crazy. But we really think it would be great
for the kids.’

“They
mapped out their vision and I said, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s write a business plan,
take it to senior leadership to see if we can get it approved.’ And everybody
was for it. We’ve been able to form a great team to bring this whole thing
together.”

Long
before the dancing began, the team was hard at work on the details of a dream. •••

Meeting
after committee meeting formed a rock-solid foundation for the dance, ensuring
everything possible would be done to make it a night to remember.

Maier
and Child Life Clinical Coordinator Holly Ott enlisted help from such hospital departments
as dietary, safety, nursing, maintenance, risk management, volunteer services, as
well as the All Children’s Foundation and the Development Council. The anticipation began a month ago as
patients picked out formal outfits that had been donated by community patrons.

Meanwhile,
Speech and Hearing Director Therese Montanari and Physical Therapy /
Occupational Therapy Director Maggie Reilly focused on the their roles planning
the theme and décor. They came up with the “stars” theme, found a prom web site
to order the cardboard decorations, and envisioned the inviting color scheme
and drapes across the ceiling.

“Maggie
and I got together after hearing everybody’s visions and kind of just put it
together on a piece of paper,” Montanari said. “And then we’d go back to the
group and people would say, ‘Oh, you should have a star balloon when you come
in.’ ”

That
job fell to Robin Copes, Retail Services Director, who got a crew together to
assemble a stunning star balloon archway – tied to together by nylon fishing
string and held to the floor by cinder blocks, items provided by her husband.
At the same time, Reilly focused on the physical comfort of the patients,
deciding that a 15-by-15-foot dance floor should be expanded to a larger size:

“We
thought our kids might need a little more space because they might have sensory
issues with being too close to one another,” she explained. “And there might be
kids in wheelchairs, so there had to be enough room for them to get around.”

Disco
balls and strobe lights were also ruled out, in case they might cause problems
in patients prone to seizures. And a lounge area away the dance floor was
created for any kid needed a break from the stimulation.

Then
there was the question of which children to invite. Should it just be
acute-care patients? What about rehab patients? “Maggie and I felt that there
were kids who come for rehab who probably don’t get to experience their own
homecoming,” Montanari said. “Some kids have cerebral palsy or autism. Some are
profoundly deaf. So we expanded the list to include both the acute-care kids
and the patients in the outpatient rehab population.”

And
the female invitees got to enjoy one of the highlights of the day, showing up
during the afternoon to have their hair, makeup and nails done by professional
cosmetologists who donated their time. A wide-open room of the OCC Building
became a bustling beauty spa. A steady stream of girls showed up, many bringing
a friend – or a whole group of friends – to get the full advance treatment for
the dance.

One
such girl was 17-year-old Audra Dick, who drove to the hair and makeup session
from Lakeland with good friend Kelsey Smith. Diagnosed with systemic lupus in
May, Audra’s life has been turned upside down.
An active athlete and high academic achiever at Lakeland High’s Harrison
School for the Arts, she put on 35 pounds due to swelling when she became ill.
Now she endures grueling rounds of chemotherapy that has left her feeling
weakened and often sick to her stomach. Unfortunately, the steroids she takes
make her hungry, compounding the nausea.

But
Audra wasn’t going to miss this day and couldn’t believe what awaited her. “I
honestly didn’t expect anything like this,” she said, moments after having her hair
done. “I had no idea. This is awesome.”

Her
mother, Laura, explained that Audra didn’t want to go to her own homecoming
this year due to her changed appearance: “She said, ‘People will make fun of
me,’ but this gives her a safe environment with other kids going through
similar experiences.“

Andrew
Herbert, a 12-year-old from St. Petersburg, came to the session to accompany
his “date” for the dance, 13-year-old cousin Ashlyn. Andrew, on the list for a
kidney transplant, was excited about the idea of the dance, but apprehensive
about not finding someone to go with, so his cousin stepped in and drove down
from Crystal River with her grandmother. “I think he’s really looking forward
to it now,” said his mother, Jennifer Smith.

So
was 14-year-old Luisa Osorio, who brought her parents, younger sister and a
handful of friends. Luisa has been receiving chemo treatments for a brain tumor,
forcing her to miss one day of school each week. She has been counting the days
to the dance since the invitation arrived in the mail a month ago, and was giddy
over having her hair and makeup done professionally.

“This
is going to be Luisa’s first big dance,” said her father, Oscar. “It really
helps keep her mind off of what she’s going through. It’s wonderful.”

•••

Up
on the stage, D.J. Fresh was spinning one dance hit after the next – Rihanna’s Please Don’t Stop the Music, Bruno Mars’
Locked Out of Heaven, Michael
Jackson’s Thriller, and Kenny
Loggins’ Footloose, the latter a most
fitting choice given the feet shuffling and sliding on the parquet squares.

Soon,
he yelled to the homecoming crowd, “Are you guys ready? Then let’s go crazy!!”

With
that, free-form pandemonium ensued on the dance floor with the Harlem Shake.

D.J.
Fresh, a.k.a Doug Hensel, was having as good a time as the kids. When a friend
of his, Chrissy
McWilliams of the All Children’s Foundation, had asked him if he would
volunteer to handle the deejay duties, Hensel gladly accepted.

“I
knew it was for a great cause and that it would be blast,” he said as his sound
system rocked the room. “It’s their homecoming slash prom slash time to just
let loose. It’s tremendous seeing all these happy, smiling faces. You’ve got
girls wearing boas, a boy wearing a crazy monkey mask. It’s great.”

The
boy in the mask was 11-year-old Jonathan Frederick of New Port Richey, who
attended the event in a show of support for 13-year-old sister Cindy, who has
been undergoing chemotherapy at All Children’s. While his sister danced with
friends, Jonathan explained that he had borrowed the mask from the Fotos-R-Fun
photo booth across the room and jumped in among the dancers to add some laughs.

“This
night is off the wall,” he said. “I just thought there would be a few tables
and punch. But this is a lot more than that!”

In
the front of the dance floor, 21-year-old Isabel McKinney, who has Williams Syndrome and comes to ACH for physical therapy, set the pace with some
high-energy footwork. Later, she was one of several recruits to call the
winning number in raffle drawings for iPod shuffles, Nanos or movie tickets.

The
sunglass-wearing, conga-line kids kept the cool dance moves coming all evening
long. The star of the group was 12-year-old Aiden Hawk, a longtime member of
the All Children’s family who underwent a liver transplant as a baby and fought
through many difficult problems. He brought along a posse of pals and old
teammates from Northeast Little League in St. Petersburg. One of his friends,
Owen Uber, provided an assessment of his longtime buddy: “He’s brave.” And on
this night, Aiden was having a blast. “This has been a great experience,” he
proclaimed.

For
19-year-old Morgan Lopez of Palm Harbor, the dance was every bit of that and
more. She suffers from autoimmune disease that has kept her isolated. She missed all of her high school dances, so
Saturday night carried special meaning. “This is all the dances I wasn’t able
to go to all wrapped up in one,” she said, seated in a wheelchair. Her escort had to cancel due to a conflict at
the last second, so Child Life specialist Katie McGinnis stepped in as her
“date” and wheeled Morgan around the dance floor.

“This
has meant the world to her,” said her mother, Audrey. “It’s one of the few
social events Morgan has been able to look forward to in a very long time.”

She
was just one of the countless patients who danced to their heart’s content,
forgetting the pain and challenges they face daily, if only for a little while.
As the night wound down, D.J. Fresh packed the floor once more with the rousing
Journey anthem, Don’t Stop Believing.
The kids danced and sang along.

And
nearby, Child Life’s Ott, who played a key role in pulling everything together,
reflected on the memorable evening.

“It
means so much,” she said. “It’s so filling in my heart to see these kids having
truly the best time of their life. That’s what we had hoped for, and to see it play
out like this is just inspiring and amazing.”

In
the background, the dance floor pulsed away to a beat of happiness and hope.

“Faces and Places” is a regular column written
by Strategic Communications Editor Dave Scheiber highlighting
those people, places and things that make All Children’s Hospital special. Video by Mollie Scheiber.